BRITISH ACTOR TOM PAYNE TELLS US ABOUT MAKING THE MOVE TO LA, TAKING ON ZOMBIES AS THE LATEST GAY CHARACTER IN THE WALKING DEAD, AND HIS LOVE OF DRAG QUEEN BINGO

WORDS: ADAM DUXBURY PHOTOGRAPHS: LEIGH KEILY

FASHION: JOSEPH KOCHARIAN

LOCATION: THE STANDARD DOWNTOWN, LA

Tom wears polo shirt by Prada at MR PORTER, jeans by Diesel

”Jesus is a badass character. There are plenty of badass gay people so why shouldn’t he be gay?

Tom wears t-shirt, 120% Lino at Matches Fashion, jeans by Levi’s

Tom wears t-shirt by David Gandy for Autograph, trousers by Palm Angels

Being cast in The Walking Dead is a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you’re joining one of the biggest TV shows on the planet (while it might not be hitting its peak of 17.3m viewers in the US, the average episode of the show still pulls in more than 11m fans, sweeping up more viewers than an entire night on most US broadcast networks). But, on the other hand, your character might get bumped off at any moment — over seven seasons, many of the show’s biggest names have met a grisly end.

However, having appeared as a recurring character on season six, and then being bumped up to a series regular on the just-wrapped seventh season, Tom Payne’s character Jesus looks set to take his place as a pivotal figure when the show’s eighth season kicks off in October.

Long before he found success on The Walking Dead, the 34-year-old actor was living in London, having left his home in Bath to follow his passion for acting and “showing off” at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

At 24, he played a 17-year-old character in the BBC school drama Waterloo Road, before being cast in the film Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day alongside Frances McDormand and Amy Adams. He then played George Best in a TV film about the footballer, but was finding London increasingly difficult and started planning to decamp to Los Angeles. “I’d done London for eight years and I just got to the end of it really,” he explains. “Also, I really enjoy the aspirational nature of American society, that positive American attitude.”